Strauss, R: Zueignung, Op. 10 No. 1

“As always with Isokoski, one either finds a certain humanity in her less-than-rounded tones - or not. Such positive qualities burn from within during songs such as 'Zueignung' and 'Morgen!'...and especially in the lesser-known 'Befreit', a performance whose subtle empathy is a summation of what has always made Isokoski such an endearing figure on the operatic landscape.” Gramophone Magazine, May 2012

“a feat of some of Strauss's greatest solo songs, all sung with high intelligence, in impeccable German, in beautiful sound (the piano especially sympathetic, well-rounded), with accompaniments from Marita Viitasalo impeccably groomed, seldom obtrusive let alone assertive, and perhaps all the better for that...Isokoski does not always seek to cultivate the voice beautiful...She is adept at picking up every nuance” International Record Review, May 2012

“Isokoski begins with disarming lightness of touch...It's easy to forget that, at its core, this is a rich, almost heroic voice, modulating its way with seeming effortlessness through the bigger numbers at the heart of the recital...Isokoski's technique has stood the test of time...Viitasalo is clearly supportive...but more of an accompanist than an equal partner.” BBC Music Magazine, June 2012 ****

“The intense, silvered beauty of her tone — less peachy and voluptuous than Fleming’s — and the unmannered clarity of her diction are unique in this music today...The strange Ophelia set, rarely programmed, can never have been more sumptuously sung.” Sunday Times, 24th June 2012

“Stotijn confronts [Kindertotenlieder's] emotions with acute sensitivity, and then leaves us with the benediction of Strauss’s “Morgen!”. A connoisseur’s recital.” The Telegraph, 2nd December 2011 ****

“Stotijn's latest well-earned recital disc takes the imaginative high ground right at the start...In the booklet-notes, Stotijn eloquently explains why they travelled to Schiermonnikoog (or 'Grey Monk Island') for the shoot, and how she chose the programme. The programme matters most, of course, though all the incidentals help make this a winner. The Richard Strauss sequence has its own logic of lively versus reflective” BBC Music Magazine, February 2012 *****

“a singer whose voice and intelligence melded seamlessly with words, vocal line and whatever dramatic concert was at hand...Stotijn's vivid performances make you examine the texts anew just to appreciate her sudden burst of vocal colour ('Zueignung' goes into the Jessye Norman zone) or her onomatopoeic effects, which give the characters within the songs a near-physical presence....Stotijn is God's gift to Christa Ludwig admirers.” Gramophone Magazine, March 2012

“Always there is delicacy and an absolute respect for the silky legato that Strauss demands from his soloist. Damrau finds drama in these songs too...the songs that demand diamond-bright coloratura, runs and trills to affright a Zerbinetta hold no terrors...Thielemann has a very special affinity with singers. He also coaxes some fine playing from the Munich orchestra.” International Record Review, January 2011

“What wins this disc the five stars are the facts that Damrau, singing in her native German, is poised ideally between dreamy haze and Schwarzkopfian fussiness...her hallowed pianissimos allow the exquisite detail Thielemann draws from his Munich players to shine...the ineffable balance between voice and orchestra, subtly assisted by the engineering, is a treat throughout.” BBC Music Magazine, February 2011 *****

“Secure in technique, gifted in projecting drama and emotion, Damrau is a peach of a singer...The haunting music; the lyrical voice; the orchestra’s dappled array, with woodwinds curling like climbing roses and violins wafting with fragrant perfume: poesie indeed, in small doses.” The Times, 28th January 2011 ****

“With a creamy-voiced soprano such as Renée Fleming, say, the results could be an excess of musical cholesterol, but Damrau’s diamantine timbre brings a welcome edge to the mix...She’s the leading Strauss soprano of the day, and her singing here shows exactly why.” Sunday Times, 30th January 2011 ****

“her voice is not ideally voluptuous for Strauss, but she makes up for it by her exceptional musicality, investing every song with meaning, and her clarity of diction. The Munich Philharmonic under Christian Thielemann are splendid partners on a CD that must now be regarded as the best modern introduction to Strauss's songs” Mail on Sunday, 30th January 2011 ****

“Her singing is consistently accurate and expressive. I particularly liked her 'Traum durch die Dämmerung', which caught the atmosphere of a secret tryst perfectly...She joins the group of younger sopranos such as Angelika Kirchschlager and Anne Schwanewilms among the leading lyric Strauss singers of the day.” Sunday Telegraph, 30th January 2011 ****

“she is not merely a fair-weather soprano. Darker shades, more serious tones lie within her expressive scope than one might at first suppose...Familiar songs such as "Ständchen" gain new life with a smiling intimacy of approach in the first verse and an enriched suggestiveness as dusk falls in the third.” Gramophone Magazine, March 2011

“there are performances of such favourites as Morgen, Allerseelen and Wiegenlied, where her hovering, silvery soprano is heard to perfection...Not all the orchestrations are by Strauss: Christian Thielemann and the Munich Philharmonic really bring home just how marvellous his own instrumentation sounds when placed beside that of some of the other composers” The Guardian, 10th February 2011 ****

“When did a German coloratura soprano last handle Richard Strauss’s orchestral songs with such grace and aplomb?...Damrau’s artistry is a combination of vocal noblesse, emotional warmth and instinctive intelligence.” Financial Times, 19th February 2011 ****

“This gloriously romantic collection of orchestral settings of Strauss’s songs... shows [Damrau] at her stunning best. Outstanding tracks include Amor, with its airy, witty coloratura, and a magically slow yet gloriously alive Wiegenlied. The accompaniments, as might be expected from Thielemann’s baton, are quite superb.” The Telegraph, 25th February 2011 *****

“These songs demand a variety of vocal weights and colours, and Damrau seems to have it all...Thielemann and the Munich Phil revel in the rich orchestral colours and can be as light as air when required...Damrau brings effortless technique, beautiful tone and unfailing musical instinct to these songs.” Classic FM Magazine, April 2011 *****

“[Fleming's] voice is perfectly suited to [these 'magical late songs'] demands, less of range than of tender, expressive feeling…a must for more than merely Straussians” Anthony Holden, The Observer, 7th September 2008

“Renée Fleming's first recording of the Last Songs, made in 1996 (on RCA), was distinctly mixed. Here Christian Thielemann is a much more natural Straussian, powerful and luxuriant, and Fleming's voice has gained in distinctiveness and diction, to splendidly dramatic effect, often with a real 'float' at the top.” BBC Music Magazine, September 2008 ****

“As Fleming explains in a note, the Four Last Songs has become the work that she has performed most often. Throughout the four songs, Fleming not only lavishes every resource of tonal richness at her command, but she seems to be urging all sorts of extra details from the text. The sound is stupendous, Fleming's voice complemented by the Munich Orchestra, with Thielemann bringing out every detail in Strauss's nostalgic orchestration.” Gramophone Magazine, November 2008

“[Thielemann] gives her voice space to soar and swoop in its illimitable fashion, but refuses to indulge her much-discussed habit of dropping consonants half the time...this is a strikingly fretful interpretation that contemplates mortality with profound unease as well as resignation...Elsewhere, she gives a ravishing account of Verführung and the finest performance of Winterweihe I can think of.” The Guardian, 10th October 2008 ****